22 February, 2013

Learn how to make Ananas Sasam/Pineapple Sasve ~ Pineapple cooked in a sweet, sour, hot and pungent coconut and mustard curry

After spending one week at home, I am back at work today. Last Friday I found myself a target for one of the worst cases of migraine in the last couple of years and all I could do was just lie down on bed after popping few painkillers. The idiot box was quiet on and the book I was reading was left untouched on the coffee table. The heavy curtains were drawn close to stop the brilliant sunrays entering the room as I tried very hard to sleep in the dark bedroom.

Come Saturday, the migraine was replaced by cold and temperature and the flu virus was too happy to find one more home in the little body of Lil Dumpling. So there we were, mom and son, with a company of inhalers and tissues competing with each others waving bye to DH who half heartedly left to work. Inspite of our illness, we managed to have a wonderful time, doing some quiet activities in his play room from colouring to sketching, from threading the beads to identifying the colours, from cooking pretend meals to fixing the toys with tool kits, from bursting bubbles in a bubble wraps to sticking stickers all over our arms. Oh, it was fun, real fun where. The kind of joy you get while playing with small kids is something that can’t be expressed in few words. It is like you revisiting your childhood where you find the pleasure in simple and small things. The joy I found when I saw Lil Dumpling having fun while learning to hold the scissors and cut the paper into small pieces or bursting the bubbles in bubble wrap was something I don’t think I will ever feel even if I win a lottery of million bucks! No wonder kids are happy most of the times as they find joy in every small thing! Toddler’s world is full of mysteries, fun, adventure, discoveries and much more and because of Lil Dumpling I get to be the part of this adventure where learning is fun and little things in life has equal importance as any major events.

Ananas Sasam/Pineapple Sasve

After spending so many hours of fun activities, I found myself ready to drop on bed as the sun set on the horizon. But since I have pledged to cook delicious and healthy meals for the family this year, I find myself planning the menu as soon as I open my eyes in the morning. Although I have tried many a times to plan weekly menus in the beginning of the week itself, I have failed miserably to stick to it. Sometimes the food I had to cook on that particular day required little more time than I wanted to spend in kitchen and other times we were not really in a mood to eat that particular dish. So planning what to cook for dinner in the morning self has been working great for us. It also helps the fact that I cook lentils in bulk on the weekend, especially toor dal which is used in preparing quick Rasams or simple Dal preparation, and freeze them in different containers to cook over the week, almost every single day. A quick stir fry of vegetable or mixed vegetables always compliment the Rasam/Dal rice or Dal and Chapatti/Roti combination. And sometimes the very same dal is transformed into comforting bowl of soups to be paired with a big bowl of salads or a grilled sandwich.

Sweet, sour, hot and pungent ~ Ananas Sasam/Pineapple Sasve

One another curry that we eat quite regularly at home is coconut based ones, especially the Udupi-Managlorean food like Sambar, Amti, Ambat, Kodhel and Majjige Huli. At times like that when one craves for the food from home, few packets of frozen coconuts come to a rescue when one needs to fix a quick bowl of comforting food.

One more dish I absolutely love but never blogged (seriously don’t know why!) is Sasam or Sasve or Sasav or Sasive. Sasive in Kannada means mustard seeds and this dish uses pungent mustard seeds in gravy which gives this dish a wonderful aroma and taste. Pineapple Sasam or Ananas Sasam/Sasve is one of the most favourite Sasam/Sasve dishes of mine. There are different versions of this recipe and the recipe I have below is bit different to the traditional recipe.

Sunshine in a bowl ~ Ananas Sasam/Pineapple Sasve

My mother makes this Ananas Sasam using dry red chillies and also adds little tamarind and that version is very similar to the Pineapple Menaskai I had posted few years ago. Sometimes she grinds the coconut and mustard seeds with green chillies and adds the ground paste to the cooked and cooled pineapples along with some green grapes to make a curry called Fruit Curry. I have combined the two methods and made this Pineapple Sasve or Ananas Sasam and also have added little turmeric powder to make it a bright yellow coconut based curry.

This version of Ananas Sasam or Pineapple Sasve also taste really wonderful where the sweet, sour, hot and pungent tastes are blend well with one another in a very harmonious way. I honestly believe that the coconut gravy based dishes, cooked or uncooked versions, always taste wonderful. With pungent mustard added, this Pineapple Sasve or Ananas Sasam is one of the best ways to enjoy fruits in a curry. If you want to try a different version of Pineapple Sasve or Ananas Sasam from the traditional way of cooking, do give this recipe a try. With four different taste buds making your taste buds dance in delight, the bright yellow coloured dish is sure to brighten your day!

Bring about 2 – 2½ cups of water to boil and add diced pineapple and jaggery. Let it cook for 6-7 minutes on medium flame.

Next add the coconut-mustard paste, salt to taste and reduce the heat to low. Let the curry simmer for 5 minutes or until small bubbles start to appear on surface. Turn off the gas as soon as the curry comes to a gentle boil.

Heat oil in a small pan or tadka pan and add mustard seeds, red chilli and curry leaves. Once the mustard seeds start to pop and splutter, transfer the tadka to Ananas Sasam or Pineapple Sasve and mix them well. Let it rest covered for at least 10-15 minutes for the flavours to infuse before serving it hot, warm or chilled with plain rice.

A fruit based coconut curry ~ Ananas Sasam/Pineapple Sasve

Sia’s Notes:

Keep close eye on the curry as soon as you add coconut and mustard paste. You just want to cook the curry till it comes to gentle boil.

Adjust the water depending on the required consistency. We like ours little on thinner side.

Increase the amount of jaggery if you find the pineapple too sour. This Ananas Sasam or Pineapple Sasve is on little sweeter side with a hint of sourness and heat from green chilli.

We usually serve this Ananas Sasam or Pineapple Sasve hot on winter days and chilled on hot summer days.

Do not add more than 1 tsp of mustard seeds as mentioned in the ingredient list as too much mustard seeds will make the curry taste bitter.

My mother makes this Ananas Sasam using dry red chillies and also adds little tamarind and that version is very similar to the Pineapple Menaskai I had posted few years ago. Sometimes she grinds the coconut and mustard seeds with green chillies and adds the ground paste to the cooked and cooled pineapples along with some green grapes to make a curry called Fruit Curry. I have combined the two methods and made this Pineapple Sasve or Ananas Sasam and also have added little turmeric powder to make it a bright yellow coconut based curry.

Namaste! I am Sia and welcome to Monsoon Spice, my virtual home. Thank you for all your comments, inputs and feedback. I really appreciate the valuable time you spent browsing through my recipe repertoire.

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About Sia

Born in India and raised in fun and food loving family, I currently reside in UK with my better half and my two babies, five years old son and nine years old food blog. My cooking style has strong root in Indian culture and at the same time embraces the world cuisine with equal passion. With never ending love for food, spice and life, I am passionate about cooking and making Indian food less intimidating, healthy and easy to cook which reflects in my blog Monsoon Spice which has been ranked one among Top Indian food blogs. Read more…

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